Hi there,

I'm a Scottish guy who's spent the last 10 months living and working as a temp in Vancouver, using a working holiday visa. My visa is up at the end March and a few months ago I probably would have headed back to Europe or off to Oz for a while.

But that all changed in November when I was offered the opportunity to work with a new Scottish organisation based in Canada. This organisation is about 4-6 months away from receiving further funding that would allow them to employ me as a paid employee.

At the moment, the CE of the organisation doesn't have that cash just now and would ideally like me to continue working here and doing unpaid work for the organisation for a few more months until the funding comes through and I can get a work permit. Unfortunately, as my working holiday visa can't be extended that isn't an option.

So, I was just wondering what options I do have?? I know that I can apply for an extension to my visa as a tourist but I also know that I wouldn't be allowed to work. I only have about 8 weeks before the end of my WHV and so I thought that I should apply for the visitor visa as a safety net to give me more time?

I also have a degree and just over 3 years experience in the PR industry and I think I'm about 2 points off the 67 points needed to qualify to apply for the Skilled Worker Programme.

So, I have a bit of a dialema and wondered if anyone could shed any more light as I need to action something soon because of the tight time frame?

This job could offer significant opportunities to work in Scotland, North America and possibly Oz and NZ so I'm keen to do all I can to extend my stay.

Thanks for any help in advance.

BigD

The only real option to pursue work in Canada following a work holiday visa is to seek a new work permit under standard provisions. In this case, Service Canada Confirmation would have to be sought, followed by the application for the work permit itself. This applies even in the case that the work is unpaid.